20Cm

LET ME DROWN.

BEOMGYU

When Beomgyu gets back to his apartment, Taehyun isn't there. He doesn't think much of it; he usually had a lot of errands to run. Beomgyu was just grateful to be home after a stressful day at Poppin' Star. Miranda, their receptionist, had accidentally overbooked him for a dance lesson and he ended up losing a client due to the misunderstanding. It had to be one of the worst feelings in the world for him. All Beomgyu wanted to do was to help his clients to succeed in their dancing goals. Losing them was losing all of the effort and relationship he built up with them.

He slumps down on the couch, feeling the mental and physical exhaustion from the day settle in. He turns on the TV to some news channel he had playing before and closes his eyes. He drifts off into his thoughts, from everything this morning with Taehyun's contract situation to the schedule conflict at the dance studio. He let out a deep sigh before trying to clear his mind to fall asleep.

Just as he's about to drift to sleep, the front door opens to his apartment. He opens his eyes in alert and notices Taehyun slipping his shoes off by the door. He catches a glance at his hands and has to sit up to double-check his vision. Over his swelled knuckles were massive bruises and Beomgyu could see dried blood in the creases.

"Taehyun, what happened to your hands?" Beomgyu mumbles sleepily as he stands up and gazes at his bruised fists.

"It's nothing, go back to sleep," Taehyun tells him.

He approaches him, leaning forward and taking his wrist carefully, analyzing the intense bruising on his knuckles. "What really happened?" He questioned.

Taehyun lets out a heavy sigh before replying softly, "I got into a fight with my stepfather."

Beomgyu raises his eyebrows at him, carefully releasing his wrist. The last he knew of Taehyun's stepfather, both he and his mother were still in prison. Did they get out within the past seven years that he and Taehyun were apart? They probably had numerous fights before if that was the case.

"When did he get out of prison?" He asks.

"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him in twelve years," Taehyun explains. "He was there at my grandmother's house with my mother. They are trying to get custody of my siblings."

Beomgyu stares at him and feels a rush of sympathy hit him. He knew how much Taehyun loved his half-sister and half-brother. He could only imagine how his grandmother felt. From what little he knew about Taehyun's parents, it seemed likely that Seojun and Eunji wouldn't be treated well if they did get custody of them.

He could see how easily it could've been for Taehyun to snap like that. Taehyun usually stayed turbulent to conflicts, taking in everything and agreeing to orders from others. The times he witnessed his father yelling at Taehyun in the backyard during some baseball drills, Taehyun just took in the lectures and bowed his head. Like anyone, though, he had a breaking point. Beomgyu had only seen it a few times when Taehyun seemed to lose control. Beomgyu could easily see how his past trauma made it easier for him to get into that headspace. Luckily, baseball seemed like an outlet to him to release those emotions.

"I'm so sorry, Taehyun," Beomgyu murmurs and leans forward, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. He keeps his lips pressed against it before whispering, "I'm sure that you guys will get something figured out. I just want you to be safe."